Foreign Reserves Slide To $27.85billion As Foreign Investors Repatriate Profits

The reserves had dropped to $27.858 billion within 11 days as at Friday, April 1, 2016 from $27.888 billion which it was on March 21, 2016.

The reserves had gradually inched up since early February when it reached $27.894 billion.

Foreign investors withdrawing profits and others exiting the Nigeria equities and bond markets had last week triggered a rise in foreign exchange disbursement by some banks.

Many of the investors, after liquidating their investments, secured forex to repatriate their funds through Stanbic IBTC Bank.

The lender disbursed $19,305,571.50 to 68 customers, according to published disbursement data for last week.

JPM London secured $3,331,564.24 from Stanbic IBTC for its divestment of equities and Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds.

There was also $2,010,690.01 disbursed to State Street/Stanbic Nominees-E by the lender for the same purpose.

BP2S/BNP Pribas obtained $130,167.61; Standard Bank of South Africa, $541,671.31; Merrill Lynch International $63, 767.89; HSBC Funds Services London, $394,210.30; and The Bank of New York Mellon 2, $206,317.82.